4.1.1 Spatial and national characteristics Characteristics 1 and 2 dwell upon the subject of geographic or spatial organization for the production and provision of public goods. The first characteristic or dimension aims at the area where a publicly provided good is (can be) consumed or at the number of people who (can) con - sume a publicly provided good regardless of national borders. Contrary or supplementary to that, Characteristic 2 deals with the jurisdiction of provision. Global public goods are provided at a global scale, whereas on the other end of the continuum, local public goods are provided at the low - est administrative level. It is obvious that global public goods have be- come increasingly important during the last decades due to the process of internationalization. Kaul et al. (1999, p. 16) define global public goods as 
«outcomes (or intermediate products) that tend towards univer- sality in the sense that they benefit all countries, population groups and generations».They therefore exhibit considerable external effects, and the problems of provision resemble those of all pure public goods. Further more, there is no single responsible institution, like a govern- ment on the national level, which is designed to ensure provision and which is elected to define political priorities in the provision 
process.73 
Organizational forms of public good provision: a positive approach Table 4.1: Characteristics of organizational and institutional forms for the production and provision of public goods CharacteristicsRange and explanation 1. spatial characteristicsglobal/regional (e.g. cross-border)/local production and provision 2. national characteristicsown/common/foreign production and provision 3. degree and kind degree: competition within state agencies and between of competitionstate(-dependent) agencies and/or private institutions kind: inter-organizational competition (between organiza - tions regardless whether private or public) or intra-orga- nizational competition (see 4.) 4. participation rightsvoting rights; terms of office; continuous vs. discrete partici- pation 5. binding natureobligatory vs. voluntary «consumption»